Synchronization of data between applications has been performed in the past. A number of difficulties must be addressed in performing such synchronization. For instance, the data formats of different applications may be different. Similarly, applications reside on systems that have different types of connections to a network. The particular idiosyncrasies of a given data format, or a given network, can be impediments to generating a general synchronization system that operates across various networks with various applications.
In order to address these difficulties, a number of different types of synchronization systems are currently in use. The first is a customized system, in which a solution-specific synchronization algorithm is developed that takes into account all of the various particularities of the applications being synchronized, and the network over which the data is set for synchronization. These types of customized synchronization systems are often solution-specific and are tightly coupled to the individual applications and data formats being synchronized, and to the particular network characteristics over which the data is transmitted.
A second type of system currently in use for synchronizing data uses a family of web feed formats that are used to publish frequently updated content, such as web blog entries, news headlines, pod casts, etc. This family of web feed formats is referred to as “Really Simple Syndication” (RSS) formats. Such synchronization systems also use another similar set of formats referred to as the “ATOM feed formats”.
Data that can be transmitted using RSS or ATOM feed formats is typically transmitted when a user subscribes to a given feed. A synchronization reader on the user's system checks a user's subscribed links for new content and downloads any updates to the content desired by the reader.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.